Van Earl: The Return

Sports Illustrated has a "where are they now" article about Van Earl Wright. His father was chairman of the deacons at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist, and a great Sunday School teacher and motivational speaker. The Wrights lived in Buckhead off Wieuca Road. When I started attending SPdL in the late 70's the three Wright boys had already gone off to South Carolina. Big brother Bryant is the longtime pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist.

Middle brother Scotland served with me on Advisory Council and the Board of Deacons. When the new Family Life Center was built Scotland and I would exercise together before work in the mornings, with David McDaniel. I ran one Peachtree Road Race with Scotland. He and McDaniel led a bunch of young married people out of SPdL to form what later became Buckhead Church. Scotland was one of the first Buckhead Elders, and McDaniel served on staff for several years, heading up the construction of Buckhead Church and other North Point locations. Their background in commercial real estate certainly helped.

The other day Matthew was on the computer. Usually he listens to music and watches videos, but yesterday he was on baseballreference.com. Last week at the Tennessee Smokies game he and his friend Daniel had sat near the Montgomery Biscuits bullpen. While there they chatted with journeyman pitcher Santiago Garrido, who has bounced around the minors since 2007. M said Garrido gave a younger "quiet kid" a baseball. While M had the website up I pointed out different bits of information so M would know more about Garrido. Where he was from, the teams he'd played on, his +4 career era, and his 0-129 history at the plate. Though he's not a cap person, evidentially he and his friends got Smokies caps at the game.

Watched some of the Kimbrel special on Sports South. In it they interview Grainne Owen of Coaches Curing Cancer (the lady with the accent). Will was playing baseball with her son when their other son was dying of cancer. The Owen's started Coaches Curing Cancer, and it has grown and grown. At Mt. Paran Will won the league-wide Killian Owen Sportsmanship Award.

I have the Thomas Jefferson bobblehead that the Washington Nationals gave out a few years ago. Not gonna sell it, but they're pretty expensive on EBay. I don't have display room – until Matthew moves out! Even then his shelves might not hold the 82 bobbleheads I have now. Last week I bought a Georgia Tech Buzz bobblehead to go with the Clemson Tiger bobblehead I got Ceil last year.